Farnam Street School

Many students and teachers gather outside a three-story brick school building in this 9 1/2" x 7 1/2" black and white photograph. Trees with bare branches surround the school, and a sidewalk runs along the street in front of the building. An American flag flies from a tall flagpole on one end of the building.

Farnam Street School was located at 28th and Farnam Streets (during this period, it was common to name schools after the street on which they were located or after a physical feature of the area). The school was designed by architect Henry Livesy and built in 1885 at a cost of $19,485. The school was occupied at a time when automobile traffic was becoming common. There was great concern for the safety of the children crossing the streets. About 1915, the police began patrolling the area and issuing speeding tickets. The school was closed and razed in 1926. The location was sold to Greenlease-Lied Motors in the fall of 1929.